Improvise
by Mystical Authoress
Summary: Dagran's attempt to kill Asthar doesn't quite work as planned. Or, the one where Asthar and Dagran equally end up lying to keep themselves and each other out of trouble.


Author note: I don't own The Last Story!

I thought about writing a canon-divergent take on what might've happened if Asthar survived (and yes, I do have a multichapter fic that also expands on this same idea, but it's drastically different from this one). I hope you all enjoy reading this!

Warning: Attempted murder, implied/referenced sex, implied/referenced torture, enemies to not-quite-lovers?, DagranxAsthar, DagranxArganan, The Last Story spoilers (obviously), canon divergence and canon-typical violence.

* * *

_**Improvise**_

Summary: Dagran's attempt to kill Asthar doesn't quite work as planned. Or, the one where Asthar and Dagran equally end up lying to keep themselves and each other out of trouble.

* * *

Dagran saw Asthar there among the Gurak, fighting them, and he knew it was his chance.

Asthar was alone. He was defending the Turret room. If he killed Asthar now and got away before anyone else walked in to see the dying or dead General, everyone could blame it on the Gurak, call Asthar's death a heroic sacrifice to protect the Lazulis Cannon.

It was perfect.

He got Asthar down in seconds, the poor man never expecting it, and Asthar could only gaze up in horror as Dagran pointed his sword right at him.

"Any last words?"

If anyone could see Dagran's face right now, the golden eyes of his seethed with rage, an undying thirst for vengeance.

Vengeance for the deaths of his family and home, long ago.

* * *

Asthar knew he had to do _something._

Sure, Dagran knocked the sword out of his hands and he had no shield on him. But he also knew this—he refused to die. Not _yet._ Even though the shock of Dagran's traitorous actions reached him, his will to keep fighting for his life _didn't._

So, he did the next best thing while unarmed and cornered by the younger man—despite his injury in his side, he used the momentum to push himself upwards with his hands, and tackle Dagran onto the floor, or at least grab Dagran's legs and pull him down.

Dagran hadn't expected it, losing grip of his sword before he could use it as an opportunity to stab in right in the torso. Sword knocked from his hands, he fell, Asthar heaving above him, and the two of them grabbed each other in a grapple. Asthar pulled his head back, trying his best to avoid a punch from Dagran, but then Dagran got another punch in before trying to flip him over to pin the General underneath him. Asthar refused to budge, kicked Dagran somewhere (most likely the groin, but he wasn't entirely sure if it actually hit there or Dagran's inner thigh), and tried to keep him pinned down.

There was Zael's frantic yell from above that made both men freeze, before the sounds of dying Gurak rang in their ears. Dagran instinctively let go of Asthar, pushing the older man away from him, just before Zael came running over.

"General?! Dagran!" Zael helped both men to his feet as fast as he could, grimacing as he saw Asthar's bleeding side. "Are you two alright? What happened?"

"There were," Asthar started, panting, "Too many Gurak for the both of us. Good timing, lad—"

Dagran cleared his throat, looking to Asthar, then looked to Zael, speaking up before Zael could get in a word of protest about Dagran running ahead of him and the others moments earlier.

"The General was about to get killed if I didn't step in. Good thing I ran ahead when I did." Dagran paused, then looked Zael in the eyes. "And good thing you came along as soon as you did. The Gurak could've killed us both."

"What?" Zael looked to Asthar, eyes wide. "I-is this true?"

"I…" Asthar looked to Dagran. He knew the younger man clearly lied, but at this point, he wasn't sure if he could just back out and say that Dagran tried to murder him. He knew Zael trusted Dagran deeply, and it would be devastating to the lad if he knew that his own best friend tried to murder the General.

"Yes," Asthar finally admitted. "It is." He offered a soft grin towards Dagran. "I'm grateful for your help."

"Uh…thanks." Dagran scratched the back of his head briefly.

Zael's jaw clenched as he looked to Dagran, shaking his head. "The last time you ran ahead to go after Zangurak, you could've died! And now…"

"Hey, I'm not dead yet." Dagran asserted. "If I wasn't there in time, Asthar would've died…."

Asthar would have started asking Zael how he was, but that was when the rest of the Lazulis Knights filed in to clean the mess. He decided it was best to ask later, especially as Therius and the Count soon filed in to see what the hell just happened.

* * *

"Are you alright, General?" Therius' intent, concerned gaze fixed itself on Asthar, and the General swallowed.

Asthar got out of staying the night in the castle's hospital wing because he only had a couple of minor scratches. Part of him feared how things might have went if Dagran straight-up stabbed him and left him for dead. Asthar and Therius currently were on their way out of the wing after getting fixed up, and the white knight couldn't help but state such concern.

"I'm fine, Therius. Just shaken up a bit from that time."

Therius didn't look convinced. Asthar sighed.

"Sir Therius. I promise you I will be well. I just need some time." Asthar knew that he was lying, but he couldn't help it.

Therius seemed more convinced this time, nodding once. "Of course, General."

Asthar had no clue if Therius was fully convinced.

* * *

Several hours later, Asthar ran into Dagran again. The two were in the Lazulis Castle Library, one of the few areas that wasn't as damaged as the rest of the castle. The Count hadn't been pleased at the destruction of the castle for the second time in a row.

Asthar was in the middle of reading when Dagran confronted him.

"General Asthar."

Asthar closed the book he'd been reading, as part of his investigation. "Master Dagran." He greeted.

The tension between them felt thicker than he hoped, made Asthar want to take a step back and away from Dagran. However, he was up against a bookshelf right now, so that didn't exactly help him.

"You actually went along with my lie." Dagran finally remarked, after a moment. His golden eyes were still cold, from earlier, but he at least sounded calmer than usual. Maybe it was because they were in a library and needed to keep their voices low, or maybe because Dagran had time to unwind from earlier. Asthar wasn't sure.

Asthar stared right back at him, managing two words. "I did."

"_Why?"_

Asthar let that question linger in the air between them as he shelved the book in his hands, before turning to face Dagran again.

"Because," Asthar finally managed, looking him in the eye, "I want to know why you tried to kill me. And I do have an idea of why you did, given what you told me at the time, I want to know the whole story."

A faint snort came from the younger man as he shook his head, before his gaze on him sharpened.

"Your men killed the family and friends I knew, years ago. I was only a child."

Asthar frowned. "So…you heard about that faction. Then you know I didn't order them myself."

He saw Dagran's eyes morph into confusion, hazy with denial. "But you took responsibility."

"A whole faction of them rebelled after their leader started it all, and destroyed many villages and innocent." He then swallowed. "It would've been wrong for me to not take responsibility. I did so, despite it not being my fault, because it was the right thing to do. I'm responsible for my men, and all that they do."

Dagran had him pinned against a bookshelf in seconds, but Asthar wasn't going to go down without a fight. He kicked at the younger man between the legs, and a yelp escaped Dagran as he loosened his grip. Asthar tried to push him back, but the merc recovered quickly, both of them grappling each other.

"Do you," Dagran breathed, "Have _any_ idea how long I've been searching for you? Just because of vengeance for all I lost, because of that faction of yours? Who actually did it, if it wasn't you?"

"I already told you," Asthar started, but Dagran's golden eyes glared into his, making him shut up.

"Who the hell did it!? Tell me his name!"

"His name was Percival."

The name came out faster than Asthar could think it, but it came out of him anyway. He couldn't deny it. Not in a situation like this.

"Percival Delarney. He led the faction. I tortured him to death as punishment. It was never publicly reported because," Asthar coughed, tried to catch his breath, "because of the fact that I took responsibility for the whole incident. We reported him as having died during the time, but in reality I tortured him to death."

As much as Asthar wanted to say that he might exemplify being a true knight, he wasn't sure if that was the case, thinking back on that incident. Would it have been better to let the other man take full responsibility publicly, force him out?

Was it knightly to torture a man to death for the grave crimes he committed?

* * *

"You _what?"_ Dagran had a hard grip on the front of Asthar coat at the moment, the other hand keeping him pushed back against he shelf. The younger man was speechless.

_How…_

_How could I miss__** this?**_

_How could I…?_

And then, he bowed his head and laughed, softly and bitterly.

"How could I be such a fucking fool?"

The fury came back as soon as it left. He gazed right up at Asthar, before punching him in the face. A half-muffled gasp came from Asthar as he put a hand to his own face, grimacing, before grabbing Dagran by the collar.

"Are you still so riled up, Dagran, even after I told you the truth?" Asthar muttered, keeping his voice low in hopes of not disturbing anyone else in the library. Dagran doubted they'd be disturbing anyone, given that they were upstairs and within the deeper sections of the library, but he supposed it never hurt to be careful. "Are you still going to kill me? Over the fact that you lost your chance for real vengeance? Is that the path you want to keep going through?"

"That path," Dagran spat back, "Is what kept me _alive."_

* * *

It was Asthar's turn for stunned silence. Asthar didn't know what Dagran went through. Asthar didn't know how it felt to be desperate, to live each day on the edge of a knife. Asthar would never fully understand. The General wasn't sure if that was a curse or not.

Without thinking much of it, amid the tension between him and the younger man, Asthar realized that he'd leaned in just a bit too close—and kissed Dagran, right on the lips. The man smelled a bit like ash and smoke, and (thankfully) not of blood.

Something between a gasp and a hiss escaped Dagran as Asthar kissed him, not expecting the man to fight back in that fashion. The younger man instinctively bit the General's lower lip, and a hiss escaped Asthar as he pulled his head back, only to try to slam him into the bookshelf in return. Dagran kicked him somewhere, hard, before roughly pushing him up against the shelf instead.

Asthar groaned as he felt Dagran slam him into the bookshelf behind him mid-kiss, but at some point he

"Do you do this," Dagran muttered inbetween the two of them grappling, "To everyone that tries killing you? Make out with them?"

Asthar managed to pin him back against the bookshelf, only for the younger man to wedge his leg between them enough to kick him backwards. Asthar hit the table, hissing, and Dagran tried to pin him down, but Asthar grappled with both his hands again, a faint chuckle escaping him despite the danger of this situation.

"Not everyone, Master Dagran." He quipped, before lunging forwards and wrapping his arms around Dagran, pinning his arms to his sides. Dagran tried to grab onto him, presumably to push him back, but that was when someone spoke up.

* * *

"General?"

Both Dagran and Asthar turned their heads to see none other than Sir Therius, who looked rather startled to see both of them in the same place at once, and Asthar immediately separated himself from Dagran. The white knight cleared his throat, frowning faintly as he bowed. "My apologies—am I interrupting something important?"

"Um, no, Sir Therius." Asthar lied, just as Dagran backed off slightly more to make a formal distance, as opposed to the close-up fighting and kissing that just happened moments ago. "Master Dagran and I were just conversing about the recent events."

"I see." Dagran wasn't sure if Therius believed him or not. Dagran hoped he did.

Dagran looked between Therius, then Asthar. "I suppose I'll take my leave, for now."

"Of course, Master Dagran." Asthar managed, barely. "I'll see you later."

_How ironic,_ Asthar thought, _almost getting killed by a man you end up kissing hours later. _ Wasn't there something that was something like _'All's fair in love and war?'_ Asthar wasn't sure if it applied to _this _situation.

Dagran left immediately after being dismissed. Asthar watched him turn a corner around the bookshelves and vanish, before he took a deep breath, looking to Therius. There were other things to focus on, like saving Lazulis for example. Perhaps Therius knew something about that.

"Do you have anything to report?"

Therius paused, before starting, "It's from Miss Mirania…"

Asthar knew he'd have to deal with the repercussions of that kiss later. But for now, he shoved it in the back of his mind.

* * *

It was the Count of Lazulis that, when Dagran came to see him, pulled Dagran into his bedroom, kissed him deeply, one of his arms wrapped around his waist. Dagran kissed him back, almost pushed him right onto the bed, and tried not to think of kissing Asthar earlier. Then again, Dagran _was_ riled up from his earlier encounter with Asthar, and wouldn't mind taking it out with the Count, if he was offering that.

No one knew a thing about him and the Count's intimacy beyond simply being trusted. Dagran preferred to keep it that way, and he suspected the Count would, too.

"I hear you've been running off on your own more often." Arganan murmured underneath him, kissing at his neck and jawline, but his gaze on him was firm. "Are you trying to die?"

Dagran laughed, but it was a little bitter as he straddled the Count's lap, gazing down at him, shrugging. "I gotta look cool sometimes, Count."

The older man laughed, pulled Dagran down to kiss him again. "We ought to celebrate you still being alive. Would be a shame if you got yourself foolishly killed."

"Oh, really?" Dagran grinned in the back of his mind. _Keep up this relationship with the Count and he'll never suspect what really happened._ "What do you want to do?"

Arganan raised his right hand to caress Dagran's cheek. "Anything." He breathed. Dagran saw the enthrallment in the man's one working eye. He found it funny how Arganan was so taken with him, so interested.

"Anything?" Dagran echoed, his voice turning smooth and sultry like how Arganan always liked it, and he heard a soft chuckle come from the Count. The man looked enthralled with him as he did since the beginning, ever since Dagran started this secret intimacy between them (even if it was to only get quicker into the Count's favor).

"_Anything."_

Dagran leaned down to kiss him again, and pushed the kiss with Asthar to the back of his mind. When the time came to confront the General again, he'd improvise.

Dagran knew he was always good at improvising.


End file.
